Chapter 20 Meeting
Hang Liumei was so exhausted yesterday that she drifted off to sleep on the hotel bed. She woke up early in the morning and went to return the cat, but Qi Xiuchun arrived even earlier. She'd never seen anyone sitting at the gate at 6:30 a.m. on a business trip. Qi Xiuchun was clearly just waiting for something to happen.
So Hang Liumei escaped again and came back with the cat.
"The situation now is that I kidnapped someone's cat. To be more precise, it came to me on its own. You two must not expose me when you return it." Hang Liumei dragged Pu Zhihe and Xiaomai to a three-party meeting. Seeing their eyes were glazed and they looked like they hadn't woken up yet, she added emphatically, "Then we need to trick them into saying something, especially to see if Qi Xiuchun is angry."
Xiaomai held the cat in her arms, yawned, and asked her grandmother, "Grandma, what happened between you and Grandma Qi? If you don't tell us, we won't be able to react quickly when the time comes."
"Hey, kid, don't ask so many questions. How about this? Bring the 'Water Moon Guanyin' painting with you. When you get there, ask her if she still remembers this painting."
As soon as Pu Zhihe and Xiaomai arrived at Baochun Gold Shop, Zhu Fu called: "Zhihe, have you found Teacher Hang? It's all right if you do. Does she have Alzheimer's? No, I think there are some signs. An elderly person of this age should be kept a close eye on. Okay, okay, I won't talk nonsense anymore. Didn't I tell you yesterday that my parents and I went to the mall to look at three golds? We liked one, but it will be yours in the future. It depends on whether you like it or not. If you are free, I will pick you up. Let's go take a look today?"
"Didn't we say we'll talk about marriage later? I don't need the three golds, they're just old traditions."
"My parents and I said the same thing. I said you definitely don't care about this. They all say you're a good girl, so we have to do our best. Look, my parents have chosen you! Now that you're done, let's take care of our own business. You said they're all here, and you're so busy all day that you can't not show up..."
Xiaomai walked towards Pu Zhihe. She didn't want to argue with Zhu Fu anymore, so she said goodbye and hung up the phone. Xiaomai said that Grandma Qi was not in the store, but had taken her works to the convention center to participate in an event.
When Hang Liumei got home and heard about this, she asked them, "Do you think we should go?" As soon as she asked, she changed her mind and said, "Forget it, there are too many people there, and it's not suitable for talking. I'd better go back and wait for her in front of her store."
Pu Zhihe glanced at Xiaomai. On their way back, they had anticipated that Hang Liumei wanted to go but didn't dare to go, so they had already agreed to take her there together. They talked to each other and half coaxed and half forced Hang Liumei into the car.
Qi Xiuchun had gone to the wedding expo at the convention center. The exhibition hall was lined with booths, each with its own small plot of land. While it wasn't like finding a needle in a haystack, it wasn't easy to find. The three of them were heading to the jewelry section to look for Qi Xiuchun's shop when they ran into Zhu Fu, who was wandering around alone.
He also saw Pu Zhihe and the other two at a glance: "Zhihe! Look at you, I asked you to come but you didn't come, and you insisted on coming by yourself. Oh, I get it, you also want to be with Teacher Hang! Teacher Hang, it's nice to see you again, you guys are here too? Aren't we getting married soon? I just took advantage of the weekend to come and see."
Seeing Zhu Fu approaching with his big white teeth bared, Hang Liumei immediately lost her nervousness. She followed his lead and chatted, "Are you preparing for the wedding? It's so convenient now. There's a large hall with everything. It's much richer than when we were young."
"Yes, it's called a one-stop solution, but I definitely can't just book it for her just to save trouble. You only get married once in your life, and not all of these brands are good. I'll definitely choose the best for her when the time comes."
Zhu Fu spoke very enthusiastically. He liked to act doting in front of outsiders, which made Pu Zhihe feel a little uncomfortable.
Zhu Fu pretended not to care, beckoned Hang Liumei and Xiaomai to join him, and quickly took Pu Zhihe for a few steps to the front row, whispering to her, "If you want to come, just come by yourself. Why invite them? It would be inconvenient for us to choose things and ask prices together. It would be inconvenient to bring two outsiders with us. We should find an excuse to go shopping separately from them later."
"I'm not here to look for you," Pu Zhihe said, sulking her face and not looking at him. "We're here to help Teacher Hang find someone. I told you, there's no need to think about all this right now. Why don't you find an excuse to go back first? It won't be convenient for us to take you with us when we're about to do something."
"You don't want the three golds, but also the wedding planner, wedding dress, photographer, and videographer? Look at what you said! Other people's affairs are affairs, but mine are not? Marriage, a major event in life, why am I always the only one worrying about it, and you don't care at all."
"It turns out that I was also half involved in the discussion of marriage. I thought I just needed to wait for notification. I told you that I don't want to get married now. At least wait until I finish Teacher Hang's exhibition, then we can talk about this matter properly, okay? Why did the agreed dinner suddenly change to a parent-teacher meeting? Does anyone respect my ideas?" Pu Zhihe finally said out the anger that she had been holding in yesterday.
Zhu Fu was upset. "Why didn't I tell you? Because I knew you'd be like this even if I told you. If I told you it was a parents' meeting, would you still go? You'd definitely make excuses! Isn't marriage a big deal? The elders are all here, and you're still dragging your feet. I worked so hard to plan this, and in the end, they actually kicked me out!"
Just as they were about to quarrel, Hang Liumei suddenly called out from behind, "Zhihe Zhihe! I saw the Baochun Gold Shop!" Hang Liumei excitedly squeezed to the front and took Pu Zhihe's hand, then turned to Zhu Fu and said, "Excuse me, I need to borrow her time for a while. Grandma has something important to do, and I can't do it without someone to give me courage."
Fifty meters from Baochun Gold Shop, Hang Liumei suddenly slowed down and pulled Pu Zhihe along, looking around as if they were actually there to buy something. When they reached Qi Xiuchun's shop, Hang Liumei looked at the jewelry, not the people sitting at the counter. She even compared the goods with Pu Zhihe: "Isn't this bracelet more exquisite than that one? But you have a thin wrist, so you can't buy one that's too wide."
Qi Xiuchun had noticed her a long time ago. Seeing her pretending to come here, he smiled and waited for her next move.
"Are you going to wear it for yourselves or give it to someone else? The one you have is our best-seller, and it comes as a set with this necklace. Would you like to try it on?" Qi Xiuchun stood up and greeted them.
Hang Liumei's heart skipped a beat. She was even more nervous than when she got married. She covered her chest with her hands and raised her head, pretending to be surprised and said, "Sister Xiuchun - this is your shop. You, you are so amazing. I knew back then that you could succeed in anything. You said we were in the same city, but I didn't expect to visit your shop until today." Somehow, she spoke slower and slower, and her voice was a little trembling at the end.
Qi Xiuchun's eyes flashed with sadness when he heard her say that. He pretended to be relaxed and joked to himself, "No way, I don't have the ability to open such a big store. I'm just working for a big boss. Are you guys here to shop? Is anyone getting married?"
"Oh, yes, this is my assistant Xiao Pu. I'm accompanying her to have a look today." Hang Liumei's brain was full of snowflakes at the moment, as if a black and white TV was broken. She had a lot of things in her mind on the way, but she couldn't say a word, and she even stuttered.
Zhu Fu and Xiaomaigang followed the two, exchanging a few dry and polite words. But when he saw them stop there, he frowned. When he went to the mall, he noticed that the price per gram of this ancient gold was much higher than regular gold. In his opinion, buying gold was all about preserving value. The teller's boasts about craftsmanship and heritage were pure consumer traps. How could Pu Zhihe have fallen into this trap just after praising her for her understanding?
So when Hang Liumei was stuck, Zhu Fu squeezed in and said, "Teacher Hang is indeed an artist. He can immediately see the most complicated shop with this kind of decoration. You said that if you give this thing to a rough person like me, I can't understand the meaning."
Qi Xiuchun was just about to catch up with Hang Liumei, and the relationship was building, when this young man suddenly appeared. She asked, "Who is this?"
Pu Zhihe introduced weakly: "My boyfriend."
"Ah—so you're looking for the three golds needed for a wedding? Five golds?"
Pu Zhihe wanted to help Hang Liumei find a suitable excuse to stay, and just as she was about to say yes, Zhu Fu interrupted her, saying, "No, no, we just met by chance."
"We just want to see the three golds, so we brought Teacher Hang here to help us choose. I heard that you are her old friend in Dunhuang, so she came here because of your reputation. Can we take a look at the matching necklace you just mentioned?" Pu Zhihe asked Hang Liumei, walking over Zhu Fu.
He just grabbed her wrist and gestured for her to leave, but she shook it off fiercely. Xiaomai, who was standing at the back, saw it clearly.
Qi Xiuchun placed the bracelet and necklace with gold filigree and bronze patterns on a velvet tray and brought them out in front of her. Pu Zhihe held them up and gestured to Hang Liumei, "Teacher Hang, does this opening have a bad connotation? Can you help me take a look? I don't really understand these things, so I'm mainly looking for your advice."
Zhu Fu saw the price tag on the bracelet said over 40,000 yuan, but it weighed less than 60 grams, which works out to 700-800 yuan per gram. The current price of gold outside is only over 400 yuan, and even the processing fees of big brands aren't that high. Pu Zhihe actually sat down and started choosing. Was she deliberately being sullen? If Zhu Fu had just let her go before, she would have gotten over it in a couple of days. But today, he was also upset. The marriage conversation always went unpleasantly, and he was getting stubborn.
Qi Xiuchun brought out another new set of goods: "This set is good, the Ruyi Xiangyun bracelet is matched with the filigree blue phoenix hairpin. It is most suitable to wear when you wear a Chinese dress to get married." She was recommending it to Pu Zhihe, but her eyes wandered over Hang Liumei and Zhu Fu's faces. Xiaomei still couldn't hide the truth, and as for the young man, he must have thought it was too expensive.
Sure enough, Zhu Fu said, "Boss, this won't do. Nowadays, diamond rings and jewelry used in weddings are all fake. Such precious things, if they are lost in a commotion, how heartbreaking it would be. Didn't the news just come out a few days ago? People don't know the value of things, but money knows the value of things. These bracelets of yours are obviously good products. But we ordinary people buy them for daily use. Gold is soft, and it can't do anything with it. It's not good to just worship it!"
Zhu Fu patted Pu Zhihe's shoulder after he finished speaking. "How about we take another look with Teacher Hang? The one I showed you at Zhou Daxi's house was pretty much the same. Big brands have guaranteed after-sales service. Let's compare them again!"
Qi Xiuchun felt a little sympathetic towards the girl sitting there. Women are most likely to stumble in love, and she herself had suffered this loss in her youth. But Pu Zhihe said, "Then let's not look at the three golds. I'll buy one for myself. Can you take out this little diamond pendant and let me see it?"
Zhu Fu was embarrassed. "Do you really have to be like this, Pu Zhihe? If you have something to say, just talk it out. Is it fun to use money to vent your anger?"
"How can I be considered angry if I buy myself a necklace? I like to pay for my own things. If someone else brings them to me, I wouldn't like them as much." Pu Zhihe knew how to anger people. Although her words were harsh, her tone was calm. The more careless she was, the more angry Zhu Fu became.
Qi Xiuchun looked at the two of them and didn't pick up the necklace. Instead, she said, "Don't try it, girl. Believe me, that one doesn't suit you."
Alas, Hang Liumei sighed inwardly, wondering what she had done. She had even caused the young couple to quarrel. "It's all because of my old confusion. I came here to help Yun Yi choose a gift for Mai Sui. Zhi He actually wanted to help me choose. I told her not to tell anyone because I wanted to give everyone a surprise. Look, it ended up causing you to misunderstand." Hang Liumei didn't know how well her plan of smoothing things over worked, so she decided to just let it go.
Qi Xiuchun perked up after hearing this: "Are they going to remarry? Why didn't my daughter mention this when she was having a reunion with her classmate Mai Sui a few days ago? They are a match made in heaven, why are they getting a divorce? They didn't separate what they should have, and they separated what they shouldn't have."
When Zhu Fu heard her last sentence, his face changed. He told Hang Liumei that he and Pu Zhihe had something else to do in the afternoon and would not accompany them to watch the show. Then he stood next to Pu Zhihe and asked her if she wanted to go out with him.
Pu Zhihe sat motionless in her seat. Hang Liumei was afraid that the matter would get out of hand, so she pulled Pu Zhihe up and said to Zhu Fu, "I'm sorry, Xiao Zhu, I didn't know you had something to do this afternoon. I have an appointment with the doctor, and Zhihe will have to accompany me to the hospital. As people get older, they have more problems." After that, she signaled Xiaomai with her eyes to take them away quickly.
Xiaomai came over with a cold face and lifted up Hang Liumei's arm. Hang Liumei took Pu Zhihe's hand, and the three of them walked out of the door. Hang Liumei looked back and saw that Zhu Fu was gone, and Qi Xiuchun seemed to be looking at her.
It seems that today is not a complete failure. Looking at Sister Xiuchun's expression, there is a chance for us to reconcile. Hang Liumei thought about it and shook her head again - how can two old ladies be in love with a young man!
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